Are You Ready? Can You Take It? THE BOB DYLAN THREAD

Dylan said the award rendered him speechless, but he will attend the ceremony.

Leonard Cohen on Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize: “It’s like pinning a medal on Mount Everest for being the highest mountain”

oh those clever bastards. What a witty thing to say by Cohen.

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38003818
Bob Dylan will not travel to Sweden to receive his Nobel Prize for Literature in person, it has been announced.
The Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel prizes, said it had received "a personal letter" saying he was unable to attend next month's Nobel ceremony "due to pre-existing commitments".
Dylan, the organisation said, felt "very honoured" and wished he could receive the prize personally.
The singer is required to give a Nobel lecture between now and next June.
'New poetic expressions'
The 75-year-old will not be the first recipient of the prestigious award to have been a no-show at the prize-giving ceremony.
Harold Pinter and Doris Lessing, winners of the prize in 2005 and 2007 respectively, were among others who did not attend the event.
"The prize still belongs to them, just as it belongs to Bob Dylan," the Academy said in a statement.
"We look forward to Bob Dylan's Nobel lecture, which he must give - it is the only requirement - within six months counting from December 10, 2016."
Dylan's win was a major talking point when it was announced last month, as was his apparent silence on the matter.
Some interpreted this as a sign he was ambivalent about the award, though the Academy later said he appreciated it "so much".
The veteran rock star was awarded the prize "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".
The Nobel Prize award ceremony and banquet will be held in Stockholm on 10 December, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.

Bob Dylan says he is unable to attend. Will he send another person to receive the prize for him?
Doris Lessing was 94 years old and weak. She had someone to represent her and receive the prize for her.
Why Pinter did not come I do not know, but he sent Mr Stephen Page to represent him..
To me it sounds as if Dylan does not give a damn. Not very well behaving,

http://www.thelocal.se/20161118/bob-dylan-to-come-to-stockholm-may-perform-swedish-academy
Music icon Bob Dylan is expected to come to Stockholm next spring, as the winner of this year's Nobel Prize in Literature will skip the award ceremony in December, a Swedish Academy member said on Friday.

Dylan says Nobel left him 'speechless' (29 Oct 16)
'I'd say he's arrogant but I'd be lying': Swedes on Bob Dylan (25 Oct 16)
BLOG: Sweden's Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 (13 Oct 16)
Sara Danius, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, told Swedish public radio that she received confirmation from Dylan's manager.

"Then he will have an excellent opportunity to hold his lecture," Danius said. Holding a lecture is the only requirement for the Nobel laureate and must be done within six months starting from December 10th.

The Swedish Academy said the American songwriter might perform in the Nordic nation next year.

"There is a chance that Bob Dylan will be performing in Stockholm next year, possibly in the spring, in which case he will have a perfect opportunity to deliver his lecture," it said in a statement.

a crisp look at Bob Dylan's paintings here:

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2016/nov/08/bob-dylan-paintings-halcyon-gallery-london-beaten-path

(I like them, but then I would..)

Thanks. I like some of his paintings, myself.

Bob Dylan will not come the 10th of December, but has now sent a written thank you speach. Who will read it is not yet known.

And, Patti Smith will sing A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall

Now, a very great man once said
That some people rob you with a fountain pen
It don't take too long to find out
Just what he was talking about



Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the thirteenth century
And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burning coal
Pouring off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you
Borrowed upon blew

http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/12/bob-dylan-and-plagiarism/

How nicely she handled this
http://www.svt.se/nobel/nervos-patti-smith-kom-av-sig-under-dylan-sangen
The dinner:
Boiled Norwegian lobster
Quail
In the dessert there will be the Japaneese sudachimoln,

Pictures from the Nobel Festivitas

http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/har-ar-nobelbanketten-i-bilder/

Good evening, everyone. I extend my warmest greetings to the members of the Swedish Academy and to all of the other distinguished guests in attendance tonight.

I'm sorry I can't be with you in person, but please know that I am most definitely with you in spirit and honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize. Being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature is something I never could have imagined or seen coming. From an early age, I've been familiar with and reading and absorbing the works of those who were deemed worthy of such a distinction: Kipling, Shaw, Thomas Mann, Pearl Buck, Albert Camus, Hemingway. These giants of literature whose works are taught in the schoolroom, housed in libraries around the world and spoken of in reverent tones have always made a deep impression. That I now join the names on such a list is truly beyond words.

I don't know if these men and women ever thought of the Nobel honor for themselves, but I suppose that anyone writing a book, or a poem, or a play anywhere in the world might harbor that secret dream deep down inside. It's probably buried so deep that they don't even know it's there.

If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think that I'd have about the same odds as standing on the moon. In fact, during the year I was born and for a few years after, there wasn't anyone in the world who was considered good enough to win this Nobel Prize. So, I recognize that I am in very rare company, to say the least.

I was out on the road when I received this surprising news, and it took me more than a few minutes to properly process it. I began to think about William Shakespeare, the great literary figure. I would reckon he thought of himself as a dramatist. The thought that he was writing literature couldn't have entered his head. His words were written for the stage. Meant to be spoken not read. When he was writing Hamlet, I'm sure he was thinking about a lot of different things: "Who're the right actors for these roles?" "How should this be staged?" "Do I really want to set this in Denmark?" His creative vision and ambitions were no doubt at the forefront of his mind, but there were also more mundane matters to consider and deal with. "Is the financing in place?" "Are there enough good seats for my patrons?" "Where am I going to get a human skull?" I would bet that the farthest thing from Shakespeare's mind was the question "Is this literature?"

When I started writing songs as a teenager, and even as I started to achieve some renown for my abilities, my aspirations for these songs only went so far. I thought they could be heard in coffee houses or bars, maybe later in places like Carnegie Hall, the London Palladium. If I was really dreaming big, maybe I could imagine getting to make a record and then hearing my songs on the radio. That was really the big prize in my mind. Making records and hearing your songs on the radio meant that you were reaching a big audience and that you might get to keep doing what you had set out to do.

Well, I've been doing what I set out to do for a long time, now. I've made dozens of records and played thousands of concerts all around the world. But it's my songs that are at the vital center of almost everything I do. They seemed to have found a place in the lives of many people throughout many different cultures and I'm grateful for that.

But there's one thing I must say. As a performer I've played for 50,000 people and I've played for 50 people and I can tell you that it is harder to play for 50 people. 50,000 people have a singular persona, not so with 50. Each person has an individual, separate identity, a world unto themselves. They can perceive things more clearly. Your honesty and how it relates to the depth of your talent is tried. The fact that the Nobel committee is so small is not lost on me.

But, like Shakespeare, I too am often occupied with the pursuit of my creative endeavors and dealing with all aspects of life's mundane matters. "Who are the best musicians for these songs?" "Am I recording in the right studio?" "Is this song in the right key?" Some things never change, even in 400 years.

Not once have I ever had the time to ask myself, "Are my songs literature?"

So, I do thank the Swedish Academy, both for taking the time to consider that very question, and, ultimately, for providing such a wonderful answer.

My best wishes to you all,

Bob Dylan

In other news on Mr.Dylan, it seems he has a bowling ball in Jack White's house. Oh, but not just any bowling ball, it has a picture of John Wayne on it.

www.esquire.com/entertainment/news/a53674/jack-white-bob-dylan/

The same link mentions Dylan's grandson and the fact he is a model.

Who's Jack White? (I know who Jack Black is ).
Will we soon be enjoying the works of Jack Brown

Jack White is some music guy down in Nashville.

Yesterday marks 55 years ago Dylan's first album was launched.

Track listing[edit]
Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "You're No Good" Jesse Fuller 1:40
2. "Talkin' New York" Bob Dylan 3:20
3. "In My Time of Dyin'" trad. arr. Dylan 2:40
4. "Man of Constant Sorrow" trad. arr. Dylan 3:10
5. "Fixin' to Die" Bukka White 2:22
6. "Pretty Peggy-O" trad. arr. Dylan 3:23
7. "Highway 51" Curtis Jones 2:52
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
8. "Gospel Plow" trad. arr. Dylan 1:47
9. "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" trad. arr. Eric von Schmidt 2:37
10. "House of the Risin' Sun" trad. arr. Dave Van Ronk 5:20
11. "Freight Train Blues" John Lair, arr. Dylan[15][16] 2:18
12. "Song to Woody" Bob Dylan 2:42
13. "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" Blind Lemon Jefferson 2:43
Bonus tracks on the 2013 reissue

Bob Dyland has to held his speach before June to get his Nobel Prize Money.
He will be in Sweden now, but there are no plans for a speach, so far.
If he does not want the money because he has enough, I think he still could hold a speach and give the money to something worth while.

Bob Dylan will finally accept his Nobel Prize
By Madeline Holcombe, CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/29/entertainment/bob-dylan-accepts-nobel-prize-trnd/index.html